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Thursday, March 30, 2006

The building of the new Wembley Stadium - seen by many as a dry-run for the infrastructure disasters planned by the government to ruin the 2012 Olympics (official slogan: "...or possibly 2013") - has ruined plans for the summer gig season. On account of the stadium not having been finished when it was meant to, and all the builders being sent home. Even while the FA and the Stadium were refusing to claim yet another slippage of the project, the rumours that the Rugby League Challenge Cup for the end of August was ringing round other venues told another story.

So it is that the summer gigs booked up in a fit of optimism are now being moved, dropped or rescheduled. Take That's reunion tour will now end with "thank you, Milton Keynes, we love you." Bon Jovi, who should have opened the new stadium's musical life as the ended the old one (which, you know, was there, and worked), are probably going to play Twickenham instead.

It's six years since England ceased to have a national stadium, because the FA reckoned we deserved better. It's odd, but putting such a major project in the hands of people who've booked Embrace up to do an official tune was always going to be a problem, don't you think?